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Mayor Did Not Bring Office into Disrepute

October 19, 2006 by Staff

The High Court has ruled that Ken Livingstone did not bring his office into disrepute when he likened a reporter to a concentration camp guard.

Earlier this month Mr Justice Collins quashed the decision by the Adjudication Panel to suspend the Mayor from office for a period of four weeks.

Announcing his ruling at this morning’s hearing Mr Justice Collins said the Mayor’s comments were "unnecessarily offensive".

However he went to say that Mr Livingstone was entitled to freedom of speech and that "surprising as it may perhaps appear to some, the right of freedom of speech does extend to abuse".

Speaking after the verdict Mr Livingstone said "those who have been elected by the people should only be removed by the people, or because they have broken the law."

Referring to his original comments Livingstone said "I have never denied that my remarks were offensive. They were intended to be."

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Filed Under: News

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